Little Prince
by LydeaBlaze
Summary: "A constant reminder of what was gained and what was lost, who he had betrayed and why." -A father and son one-shot between Metalbeak and his young, three-year-old son, Alistair, upon one visit to Shadow Pass. To spend a little time with the heir of the Pure Ones... Time with his beloved son from his Elanore, means more than anything in the world.


Little Prince

A constant reminder of what was gained and what was lost, who he had betrayed and why. Upon leaving St. Aegolius, he has flown to the abandoned Shadow Pass base for a reason, but some never know why and others... They are entrusted with a secret that is being kept for until eternity, as it could cause many a few shattered relationships within the Inner Circle and could break the fragile trust between a king and his queen.

They arrive at the ruins of this old base, some vines over growing the gates and growing up the walls of the ancient base, forever in the shadows of a canyon as it lies within its valley. The base is reasonably maintained in some areas, some left as wild as the vines suggest it. Residing here is a battalion of soldiers, a second general and...Several nursemaids. The ancient gates to the base open and the masked Sooty Owl walks into the courtyard, soldiers immediately stop what they are doing to bow as their leader passes. Within the silence, with some quiet murmurs of "My Lord." as he pass, walking within the remains of the palace until reaching a guarded room. A nursemaid then exits the room and notices their king before saying a few things and curtsying in sudden respect.

"My lord." the nursemaid mutters with respect

"Dear nursemaid, is he awake?" the higher authority asks

"Well, no..." the Nursemaid replies "it is fairly early this evening and he isn't up yet."

"Good to know." the owl replies as he passes the nursemaid and enters a room

As the other nursemaids curtsy, some of them the owlet mother's former attendants, and say their line, the High Tyto walks over to the nest within the room as a little black and brown owlet lies rest in it. A slight smile is smiled over the sight of a sleeping owlet, before gently waking the owlet with a shake. The little owlet yawns and wipes his eyes it's his little winglets.

"Da?" the owlet whispers with wonder to if he is seeing what he thinks he is seeing

"Hello, Alistair. Did you have a good dream?" Metalbeak asks

Alistair nods as his father picks up the owlet by under his shoulders with his wings and holds him close. Alistair is his owlet, the heir and prince to his throne, if anything; he is then most precious thing to him. Alistair is a crossbreed of Sooty and Barn owl, and he has a dark brown colour to some of his feathers, besides ebony black and some little white marks.

As he is a crossbred, something to note is that his mother is not Metalbeak's wife, Nyra. No, his mother was a beautiful, intelligent and courageous owl named Elanore Camille Brix. Although she is no longer with them, her spirit and her light gold eyes live on through her son. She was the consort and she would be here today if she was the wife of this tyrant, but some sacrifices have to be made...

"I never can put up with not having you at St. Aegolius." Metalbeak says as he places his son down "Knowing that you're so far away keeps me up during the day wondering if you are alright."

"Oh and dad, I am practicing my reading, like you told me to." Alistair mentions to his father

"That's good. Not many owlets your age know how to read yet until they're twice your age." Metalbeak says before eying a book and brings it over to Alistair "Would you want to read to me? I want to see how good you are."

"Ok." Alistair replies as he opens the book

With a wing around his son, Metalbeak listens to his young son read. Alistair is three years old, so he would be pretty young to know how to read, but already, the young prince has an advanced knowledge and since he hasn't anything else to do, he started reading books after having being taught to read by his father. The nursemaids are often happy to see their young prince reading a story, especially when they haven't the effort to read it to him. It does fill Metalbeak with pride, as his son is maybe a child prodigy, as he would have inherited it from his mother. Nevertheless... He it is with that the mother hadn't lived to see all of this, as she was only in Alistair's life for only his first year of life. It broke his heart when they were forever forced apart, Elanore sacrificing herself for her son just to keep him safe.

"The end." Alistair says as he finishes the story

"You're learning so fast, my son." Metalbeak says, "You take after your mother sometimes. She loved to read."

Alistair turns his head "Da. What was mama like? I can't remember..."

"Well, your mother, she... She was smart, beautiful, a little depressing at times, but cheerful and kind. She loved you to pieces; she loved you like a mother would love her owlet..." Metalbeak answers before a sudden realisation, "You really cannot remember?"

"Not really..." Alistair replies

Metalbeak pulls out a picture and gives it to the young owlet. It has a portrait of his parents and little hatchling Alistair at his initiation as prince, but mostly into the Pure One Inner Circle. In which a special pendant was placed upon his little neck and he was named the Prince of the Pure Ones, but more commonly, Prince of Shadows.

"This may be the only other image of your mother i have, Alistair." Metalbeak says as he hands the owlet the picture

"She was beautiful..." Alistair sadly sighs, "I miss her..."

"So do I, lad. She, unlike your stepmother, was maybe the love of my life. She gave me you." Metalbeak says as he looks at his young son before a sudden flashback to see the mother before it fades away

"Are you going to go soon?" Alistair asks with a look to tell that he is a little lonely when his father isn't here

"Well... Maybe in a little while." Metalbeak replies

Alistair sighs, as his father never usually stays long. He never actually knows why his father keeps him here, in this abandoned base, when he would give anything to live with his father. He knows about his stepmother, Nyra, but he does not know why he cannot know anything else to do with everything back at St. Aegolius.

The father looks to his young son and wraps him in a caring hug "I love you, Alistair. You're my baby boy and don't you forget that. I know you miss me when I'm gone, but I'm always with you, your mother too."

"But, da… Why can't I live in St. Aegolius?" Alistair asks in annoyance

"It's complicated, ok. I'll explain when you are older." Metalbeak replies

"But that will take up until forever!" The owlet complains

Metalbeak sighs, as he wishes the mother were here to mediate and soothe her agitated owlet. Elanore, regardless of her impairment of having a fragile back, was always putting Alistair before her own problems and he admired that of her. It started even before Alistair was born when he was just an egg in a nest in her bedchamber. To Metalbeak, Elanore and their owlet are the whole world to him, as he loves them both. Alistair really is all he ever wanted, a child. Even if Alistair were born a girl, he would have loved him anyway.

The first night that Alistair came into this world was a joyous occasion for only maybe a few that could be trusted with such a secret. He slept in his nest for a little while after hatching, and had a little knitted blue blanket his mother had worked on for some long hours on end for the time between after the egg was laid and before he had hatched. Elanore's face was smiling, while she soothed her owlet when he cried or just watching him sleep. Although the Rosewood Siege was within a major battle, as the Pure Ones were vying for control of that section as well as the Tyto Forest in its entirety, attention was elsewhere placed.

_The door to the bedchamber opens, careful not to make the door squeak, as there is a sleeping owlet and an equally tired mother inside. The guards giving the approval of the visitor, even though it seems they are tighter on the security as their prince and future king is sleeping in the room. Elanore, the mother of the young owlet and the consort and General under Lord High Tyto Metalbeak, is asleep herself, as it has been a long night for her._

_Without waking the mother of his owlet, Metalbeak walks over to the little nest and the owlet has a little smile on his little face while wrapped snug in this little blue blanket. He stands by the bed and smiles, as this owlet is all he ever would have wanted. The little one then starts crying a little before the owlet is swept into a hug._

_"It's alright. Daddy's here... I'm here, Alistair..." the now father soothes as he holds his baby close to his chest, a little head resting on his shoulder_

_The cries do not seem to let up, it awakes the mother, who sits up and then gets out of bed, and Metalbeak willingly hands Elanore their baby, as she has a knack with him, even if he is only 18 hours old. He then stops crying after a bit and Metalbeak gives her an appreciative look._

_"Now I couldn't do that." Metalbeak says_

_"It has only been less than a day, my love." Elanore says while handing him their owlet, "By a little time later, you will know how to soothe the enraged owlet."_

_"Of course, I have you to teach me." He says while placing Alistair down and taking her in an embrace_

_"Yes, my love. It will take some getting used to…" She replies softly_

Three years have passed... Things have changed and a family broken because of fate and unfaithful reality. Alistair has that same look he had when he was a baby, except laced with loneliness and sadness as now he is saying goodbye once more. Metalbeak is doing the best for him by having him not where his stepmother could ever find him if she found out the truth. Metalbeak and Alistair are in the courtyard of this base, which was abandoned once, which now has found a different purpose.

"I miss you when you're gone..." Alistair sighs

The father places his wing on the owlet "I'll visit soon, I promise. Just remember that… That I am keeping you here to keep you safe, because I promised your mother I would."

"I miss her as much as you…" Alistair says with a sad stare

"Same here…" The father says to his son before hugging him tightly "I love you, son."

"I love you, da. You and mama…" Alistair replies

It is moments later that Metalbeak leaves with his guards following close behind, Alistair watching the sight from down below with sadness, he is always sad when his father leaves to go back to the Pure Ones and the main base. He wishes he could stay, he does, but it might never come true.

Metalbeak wants the best for Alistair, he truly does and he wants to keep the promise he made to his beloved Elanore upon the night they parted forever… With tears in his eyes, he looks back to see a small figure standing outside still before being ushered in.

_"Alistair is fine, Elanore… He is safe, just as I promised he would be. Every night that follows the last, I see that he is growing up so strong and so smart. If only you were here to see him now, you would be so proud to call him our son; he is very smart indeed, just like you. I love you, Elanore, and will for all eternity and thank you for our Alistair… Thank you…"_


End file.
